Highschool Guard
by Burnzs
Summary: Naruto's newest mission is protection duty for a threatened teen. You'll never guess where he ends up.
1. Chapter 1

Tsunade placed her paper down and sighed. She would have shouted some obscenity in frustration if it weren't for the presence of the shinobi in front of her. She was starting to regret sending Jiraiya away from the village on a lasting mission, because the council became iffy and they voted to send Naruto out of the village until the toad sage came back. Fortunately, it seemed that a new mission just came in that would provide such an escape. She only hoped that Naruto wouldn't find out the true meaning behind the mission.

She looked up to her soldiers and smiled, "Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, you have been given a new assignment. It is an A rank that will take you from the village for a while."

Naruto was practically glowing with excitement, bouncing where he stood. Sakura just smiled at her easily excitable friend and Tsunade couldn't help but join in on her amusement. Now that Naruto had recovered from the damage caused by his rasensuriken in that fight against the Akatsuki, she knew all too well that he would be up and raring to go.

"I have assigned Yamanaka Ino and Yamato as your last two members. They will meet you at the gate and explain the parameters as you travel. You will also team up with four others and you will meet them at the gate tomorrow.

She smiled at the two as they each gave their acknowledgement before making their way out of the office. However, once the door shut, her smile fell and she called out, "Kakashi! Yamato!"

There were two puffs of smoke and the aforementioned leaders appeared in front of her, "Alright," she continued, "I figured that you two as the leaders should know the true meaning behind this mission. The truth is that without Jiraiya in the village, the council believes that we do not have the man power to defend Naruto if the Akatsuki decide to attack; therefore we are going to send him out of the village. Your jobs are to make sure that you stay with this mission until a message is sent for your return."

The two Jōnin nodded and disappeared in another cloud of smoke.

Tsunade gingerly rubbed the space between her eyes in exasperation, "One of these days, that blonde boy's going to give me a heart attack."

**XxOxX**

Naruto was so excited. Finally after so long, he was able to do missions again. It's really too bad about his new kick-ass attack, though. It really had promise, but how was he supposed to know that it would damage himself? Ah well, all's well and all that jazz. He would just have to fix the kinks later. He happily grabbed his bag and headed toward the east gate.

When he saw the familiar heads of pink and blonde, he happily waved and called out before running up to them.

"Naruto!" Sakura waved as he made his way towards them, "Good morning!"

He returned the greeting before giving another blinding smile, "So did you guys find out what the mission is?"

Sakura and Ino both shook their heads and Naruto threw his hands up in exasperation, "What the heck! How are we supposed to know what to do?"

Ino sighed, "It is a bit frustrating, but I guess we'll just have to wait and find out."

As soon as the words left her mouth, they all heard a voice coming towards them, "Wahoo! Are you guys ready to kick some ass? We so got this mission in the bag."

Then another quieter one, "Kiba-kun, maybe you should settle down a little. Tsunade-sama said that we were teaming up with another group so maybe you could tune it down a little."

They heard buzzing from the third person.

As they rounded the corner, Naruto's face lit up and he began to wave frantically, "Hey guys! So you're the ones that we were assigned to team up with? That's great!"

"Yes!" Kiba crowed, "Finally, we can team up with someone fun! All these other boring team missions sucked. At least Naruto knows how to have a good time!"

Hinata frowned, "Kiba-kun, those other teams we were with worked very hard and you shouldn't talk down to them."

Kiba rolled his eyes, "Yup they sure did. However, I like to actually talk with my team and frankly, they all sucked at conversation. What's worse was that they wouldn't even spar with me. At least Naruto can hold up a half-descent conversation."

Naruto chuckled, "I'm glad I could help," he thought for a moment, "Hey! What do you mean by half-descent?" He got right in Kiba's face and the two glared off.

"I meant what I said!" he shot back just as fiercely.

The two began their usual face off, but they were both interrupted when the two violent females made their disagreement known. Seconds later found the two boys sulking by a tree and nursing their newly acquired bumps while Ino and Sakura high-fived.

"Now that you've all been acquainted, we can finally get going!" came a too cheerful voice behind them.

The two teams whipped around, "Kakashi-sensei! Yamato-taicho!" they all shouted.

Kakashi nodded, "Yup! Now let's start heading out, we'll explain the mission parameters while we walk."

Moments later found the group of eight walking down the path. Kakashi eye-smiled as he began, "So, as you will all find out, our client is a rich politician from across the sea. The man has found himself being threatened and is scared that they might go after him or his son."

Sakura nodded in acknowledgement, "So it's a protection mission."

Kakashi's eye-smile brightened, "Yup! We have gotten team eight and myself as the tracking squad as a precaution, while Team Yamato is here to provide power as a backup."

Kiba frowned, "Not to knock Ino's skills, but she doesn't really seem to be the powerhouse type."

Kakashi chuckled, "You would be surprised. I've seen her take down opponents twice her size. However, that's not the only reason that she is Sai's current replacement. As you can see, the squads consist where they will provide an even amount of gender. You see, the school you are going to isn't co-ed.

Naruto stopped, "Did you just say school?"

Kakashi eye-smiled, "Oh! So you noticed! Yes! You and the others will go under cover as normal students at a high school so that you can watch out for our client's son. You can't let anyone know of your origins. Not even the boy himself. The reason why we need another girl too is because we want you to search the dorms for a lead on where the attackers might be. You have each been given a schedule that will put at least one of you in each of his classes."

The six kids nodded, "Good. You will all be enrolled as sophomores and will need to do your best to blend in," His face lit up, "Oh and Kiba," said boy looked at him, "We also want you to have Akamaru searching with the rest of the group."

Kiba nodded slowly, "Alright, does that mean that they allow dogs at the school?"

Kakashi only eye-smiled again, "Nope!" he said cheerfully, "I was hoping that you two could use your Jūjin Bunshin to search."

Kiba nodded, "Alright, that sounds reasonable, but Akamaru can only turn into me, so would I need to change my own appearance?"

Kakashi shook his head, "Nope, we have enrolled you both! As twins."

Kiba blinked. When Naruto snickered, he happily sent the blonde boy the finger before he turned back to Kakashi and scratched his cheek, "Alright I guess. It might be a little weird, but I'm sure we can figure something out."

Naruto snorted, "Weird? More like screwed up. I mean, why would you want to be related to your dog?"

"What did you say you little twerp!"

The two began to wrestle and shout obscenities at each other, but Kakashi just eye-smiled over the brawl towards the others, "Excellent, so we're all in the know," he paused, "Oh, and you guys have to pretend like you don't know each other to make your arrival seem more of a coincidence."

**XxOxX**

"So you guys are the ninjas I hired, huh. I hope you're as good as your Hokage says." The man said. He was of moderate height and build with a black business suit and a fedora.

Kakashi eye-smiled, "Oh I assure you, we are each very skilled. You have nothing to worry about."

The man frowned and wiped sweat from his brow, "Alright I guess I can leave it to you guys. All this worrying over whether or not I'm attacked is a bit disconcerting," he turned to the six kids, "Please protect my son. I will gladly compensate you at the end just as long as you make sure he is safe."

They nodded professionally and the man seemed to drop a little tension from his shoulders, "Okay, so I have finished your guys' papers and when you start on Monday, I have put at least one of you in each of my son's classes. Ever since I got that threatening call, I have been practically frothing with worry as the school doesn't allow me to send my bodyguards in. My son's name is Sabishi. I'm counting on you to make sure he's safe."

They nodded again and Kakashi led the flustered politician away followed by Yamato. Once the door shut, Naruto couldn't hold his seriousness up and he put his hand behind his head, "Aw man! This is going to be so boring! Why do we have to go to high school?"

Sakura began fuming, "Will you shut up! That man is in the next room and if he hears you acting like an idiot, then he'll begin to worry again!"

Naruto smiled sheepishly and sighed, "Sorry about that," he whispered back, "I just really don't like it."

Sakura crossed her arms, "I'm not exactly thrilled to go back to school either, but we were hired for it."

Naruto frowned, "I hope we get attacked then. It'd be really boring otherwise."

Sakura sent him flying and he hit the wall with a resounding crash, "You idiot! That's what we don't want to happen!"

Naruto sighed and stood up from the heap he was thrown into, but still nodded in acknowledgement.

"Good!" She said, "Now let's go get ready for school."

**XxOxX**

Anya growled as she hurriedly made her way towards the mess hall. Why did she have to pick today of all days to break her alarm clock and sleep in? It had been very urgent that she meet her friend at breakfast, but now there was no one to keep him safe. She was so busy berating herself that she only noticed the blonde figure when she ran into him. The two crashed to the floor, but before she could register a firm thump from the impact on the ground, she found herself stopped and suspended in the air. She looked up to see that someone had caught her and was gently helping her to get her bearings.

She dusted herself off and looked up at him and had to hold in a gasp. What she saw were the most gorgeous eyes that she had ever seen, shining pools of blue and her breath hitched as she took in the rest of his features. He had beautiful blonde hair and three whisker marks on his cheeks that gave him more of an exotic look. She heard some mumbling and she had to shake herself out of her daydream.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" she asked.

"I asked if you were alright. I didn't mean to run into you."

Anya smiled, "I'm fine, thanks for your concern, though."

The boy gave a warm smile and she felt her heart melt as he spoke, "That's good. I'm sorry for running into you. I should have been paying more attention."

Anya shook her head frantically, "No! It was my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going. You're completely fine."

The boy's smile turned more mischievous and he said, "Alright, so it's both our faults. We can both take the blame."

"O-okay." She felt her face heat up and she looked away.

The boy's expression became more worried, "Are you alright? You're turning red!"

Anya frowned. No one was possibly that oblivious. She peeked at him and she giggled when she noticed the honest concern in his eyes. He clearly didn't understand what a spaz she was being and she had a feeling that she could work with that. Inwardly, she snickered at his innocence before she waved him off, "It's alright," she began, "It happens all the time."

The boy nodded, "Alrighty then. While I have your attention, do you think that you could help me out? I lost my map and I don't know where I am."

"Oh?" she asked, "Where are you headed?"

"I was told that there was a breakfast hall somewhere around here."

Anya's eyes went wide, "Oh crap!" she took off running and the boy followed, "I'm headed there now, but I'm late so I need to hurry."

He seemed a bit worried at her reaction, "what's wrong?"

Anya sighed, "It's my best friend. He has become a target of the school bully and I promised to protect him his morning," she grimaced, "Unfortunately, I slept in this morning and he currently has no one protecting him.

The boy nodded in understanding and Anya took this as a cue to shut up and keep running. Silently, the two quickly made their way into the school in time to see a small boy being shoved around inside of a circle of larger kids. The older ones were cruelly insulting and jeering the smaller boy as he tried and failed to get out. Anya was prepared to step in, but she was stopped when the boy beside her stepped forward.

"Hey, you guys! Leave him alone!"

The room went silent as everyone stared in shock at the loud blonde. The shock quickly turned to confusion, then from confusion to worry. Anya could only guess at the thought going through their minds right then.

The lead bully, Erin stepped forward and stared down at the blonde, "Well well well, what do we have here? A newbie sophomore that thinks he's too big for his britches," he turned to the others and smirked, "Let's put him in his place."

The large group started towards the blonde boy, but they were stopped by a clearing of someone's throat. Everyone whipped their heads around to see a woman glaring at them. Her blonde hair was pulled up in a bun and her pointy glasses and dark red lipstick only helped to add to her intimidating aura. She wore a tight gray suit that hugged her curves and along with her black high heels, it all gave her an air of professionalism about her. Anya knew this woman. She was the principle, Ms. Shatners.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked calmly with an air of authority.

Erin backed away a little, "Nothing, Principal Shatners. We were just playing with our little pal here," here he grabbed the younger boy and began to noogie him painfully and Anya and her blonde companion couldn't help but wince in sympathy. Principal Shatners only frowned, but did no more. As she nodded and turned around, Anya noticed the glares shot at them from Erin and his posse and she resisted the urge to shudder.

Luckily, the warning bell for class chose that time to ring. She quickly grabbed both boys by the wrist and dragged them away. Once she was sure that they were out of ear shot of Erin, she rounded on the blonde in all her womanly fury, "What the hell were you thinking? Not only is Erin a senior, but also the captain of the football team! He'd squish you without a second thought."

She was interrupted by her rant by their guest waving his hands in a placating manner and he tried to defend himself with a retort, but he was interrupted when the smallest of the group interrupted and rounded on the blonde as well, but this time it was for a different reason.

"That was so cool!" he gushed, becoming starry eyed, "You practically saved me! I would have died if it hadn't been for you!"

Anya and the blond sweat-dropped at the dramatic statement. She was going to try to step in and separate the two, but she was surprised when the blonde chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck. "All I did was yell at him to stop, thereby turning his intent onto me. I didn't save anyone."

Anya smiled slightly. How sweet. He was trying to downplay his deed. Not only was he cute, he was kind and stood up for the weak. Now she finds out he's modest. She sure found herself a catch. Of course, this attempt at modesty did nothing to dissuade the blonde's new fan, instead seeming to incite him more,

"You're so cool!" he gushed again, "Not only are you willing to sacrifice your safety for mine, now your acting as if it's not a big deal! As far as I know, jumping in front of that bully was the equivalent of jumping in front of a bullet. I owe you my life!" He finished with a large smile and stuck out his hand, "The name's Sabishi. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

There seemed to be a flash of something that Anya didn't recognize in the blondes eyes, but it disappeared just as fast and his face morphed into a brilliant smile, "Hi! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! It's a pleasure to meet you."

Anya huffed and crossed her arms, grumbling something about ungrateful blondes and best friends. Sabishi easily took this in stride and he just smiled, "That's Anya, by the way."

Naruto shot her a warm smile as well and she straightened, "Thanks for the help earlier, Anya-chan, I would have been lost if it hadn't been for you."

Anya giggled at the honorific before turning away and blushing, "I was happy to help."

Sabishi frowned, "Anya, are you alright? You're acting weird."

"Shut it!" she snapped, bonking him on the head before turning to Naruto with an innocent smile, "Don't listen to him, Naruto-kun, he doesn't know what he's talking about. Now let's get to class. Naruto-kun, I noticed that we have the same first class, so we can show you where to go!"

Sabishi brightened, "Really? Naruto-senpai gets to hang out with us? Score!"

Naruto looked between the two of them with obvious confusion ,"Well, I suppose I'll follow you two then."

Anya squealed and took his hand before dragging the taller blonde out of the room. When they made their way into homeroom, she led him to the back and did her best to hide Naruto from other girls that might want a piece. Luckily, no girls made a move and the class was fine.

She had to hide her frown when she found out that Naruto wasn't in her next class. She would just have to find him at lunch. Luckily, or unluckily, there were plenty of new people to keep her attention. There seemed to be a new kid in each of her classes. She was glad she had Sabishi next to her to keep her company and to ward off the weirdoes.

When they left homeroom and said goodbye to Naruto, Anya lead Sabishi out and towards second hour history and towards the first weirdo of the day. At first, she didn't notice him. The only sign that there was something different was the heavy atmosphere in the room. Anya couldn't help the shiver as she scanned the room for a disturbance. She had to suppress a yelp of surprise when a boy moved a little and she finally saw him. He was a bit cute, but it was kinda covered by his creepy aura. He had spikey brown hair that was held up by a dark blue headband. He was wearing a blue sleeveless shirt and dark khakis, but none of those were what made him creepy. It was the fact that she couldn't see most of his face. He was wearing round black sunglasses and a dark red scarf wrapped over his mouth. He just sat there, hands in his pocket.

Apparently, she was not the only one who saw a warning from his demeanor because the others in the class were giving him a wide berth. That is, except the others that shared his aura. Soon, he had the dark, Emo half of the class swarming around him. They did not speak; they just sat there, occasionally nodding towards each other in a silent communication. It was totally freaky. She heard that the new boy's name was Aburame Shino and she had a feeling she was going to avoid him.

The next hour brought Math class along with another weirdo. There was nothing about her aura. In fact, she seemed really friendly. She wore a red tank top with white piping along the side and blue skinny jeans. She even had this cute red ribbon in her hair to keep the bangs out of her face and her beautiful green eyes. But that wasn't what made her a weirdo. No. Not even when the popular crowd swarmed her and pulled her away. There was that one thing that threw the whole picture off. It was her hair. Who the hell goes around with pink hair? PINK hair. Anya could only shudder at the prospect. She only had to avoid eye contact with her as to not get attention until the class ended.

Next was P.E., here she met the idiot twins. They were very cute, she could admit, but they had nothing on her Naruto-kun. They were two brown haired boys with strange tattoos on their faces. One twin, Kiba wore a football jersey over a white t-shirt and blue jeans. The other one, Akamaru wore a blue hoodie and blue jeans. She was surprised when she found out that Akamaru was a mute. She missed the explanation as to why, but she heard the end result and that was all she needed to hear. The two weren't bad personality wise. It was just that they kept challenging people to races and such. It was like they were trying to prove dominance or something. Anya wasn't really for the competitive men, so these two weren't really her type.

Then they went to art class where they met another weirdo. She was always stuttering and looking down. Anya only talked to her once, and that was difficult enough in itself. Her name was Hinata, and she was the sweetest thing you would ever meet, but the stuttering was really bordering on annoying. She had long, black, almost purple hair, and dark sunglasses. She was wearing a large light purple jacket and blue jeans. Anya would have never even suspected anything against the girl, had it not been for the glances that Hinata shot at Naruto when they were walking down the hall. It looked like she was going to get a rival in love.

Finally, as Anya was about to fall asleep from the copious amounts of boring school, she was given a saving grace and it came in the form of home economics. What was even better was that this new weirdo was not as weird as the others. She was incredibly gorgeous. She had beautiful bleach blonde hair that was tied up into a long ponytail and her bangs were brushed over one blue eye. Anya could only sigh as she realized that this girl had a high chance of becoming a queen of high school. She would have to be wary. There was no way that she would let her anywhere near her Naruto-kun, although her outfit might make it difficult. She was wearing a purple skirt that showed off just enough of her long legs to seem flirty. She also had a tight purple shirt that hugged her figure to show off her curves. She looked in no way slutty, but she did warrant a few grudging compliments.

When the school day was over, she could only sigh as she planned out the new approach to the classes. Overall, the new kids all seemed to be able to fit in with their own groups. She could only be thankful that she had found the best possible new kid to hang out with. She would have to be a bit cautious about some of the others. Of course, all thought left her mind when Naruto offered to walk her and Sabishi home. Since they lived off campus, they agreed. Anya could only fantasize as they walked. She wanted to think that the reason that he was walking them home was to protect them from kidnappers. It would have been so romantic. When they finally got to her house, she waved goodbye to her friends as they turned a corner.

**XxOxX**

Naruto sighed in boredom as he waited for his ever tardy teacher to show up. Everyone else had agreed and shown up at the copy-nin's current residence. As soon as they were done with school, they each stayed dressed in their usual civilian attire and made their way over. When the two hour mark hit, Kakashi finally showed up and Naruto couldn't help the groan that left his lips.

Kakashi just chuckled and turned where he could face everyone, "Alright, everybody, what do you have to report? Yamato and I have already completed our search and we have found no sign of movement from the enemy. Sakura, you first please."

Sakura smirked and pulled up Ino next to her, "We have joined the popular crowd, and we are going to use this to gather information on the gossip going around. I have the typical crowd and Ino's covering the cheerleaders. We have yet to discover anything, but we are definitely looking. I searched the north wing of the dorms while Ino searched the south. We didn't find anything suspicious."

Kakashi nodded, "Alright, "Have you located Sabishi yet?"

Ino shook her head, "There was never any role call in the classes, so we were not shown him."

Kakashi nodded, "Alright. Great thinking, be on the lookout for any information you can get," he turned to the next one, "Hinata," he said, earning a squeak and a straightened back from the Kunoichi, "What have you to report?"

Hinata pressed her fingers together, "I have joined the clique in the art room. They seem to focus their topics around drawing and painting. While the conversations have little to do with the case, the teacher seems to be very close to the students, as she didn't hesitate to share school information with them. I feel that if I get on her good side, then eventually I will be able to get information from her as well."

Naruto slung an arm around her shoulders and he smiled, "Way to go, Hinata-chan! That's a great idea!"

Hinata took one look at the arm, and then moved her gaze back to the blonde connected to it and promptly passed out. Naruto was frantically leaning over her, trying to see if she was alright.

"She's fine, Naruto," Sakura said, "She'll be up in a few minutes," she then turned to Kakashi, "As for the dorms, I asked her to search the east and west wings with her Byakugan and she told me that she found nothing. She also didn't see Sabishi either."

Kakashi nodded, "Alright, Kiba. You're up."

Kiba smirked and he and his pooch made their way forward, "Me and Akamaru were able to get in good with the jocks, and since everyone wants to be us, getting information isn't that hard," his smirk widened, "and since the average jock's brain is supposed to be the size of a pea, people have loose tongues around me since they think I don't understand what they're talking about."

Sakura snorted, "Way to work the angle. Finally we have a use for your strong point."

Kiba gave a cocky grin, "Thanks Sakura," his grin fell, "Hey! That was an insult!"

Kakashi waved his hand, "Moving on,"

Kiba scratched his cheek, "Right, well, me and Akamaru searched the east and west wing," he pulled out a slip of paper, "I'm not sure if it means anything, but I did find this," he pull out a small torn strip that had words written on it, "It has a few letters on it. It says "Steinm," but I'm not sure if it has any more to the word, but it's all I found."

Kakashi took the paper with an eye-smile, "Well done, Kiba."

Kiba nodded, "I also couldn't find who Sabishi was."

When Kiba stepped back, Shino stepped forward with his usual stoic demeanor, his civilian appearance doing nothing to lighten the dark aura around him, "I was able to get into a clique that allows me to move through the school almost undetected. With our small chance of being caught, I am able to gather information about the darkest secrets. So far, my search has been fruitless, but given time, I may be able to find something. As for the dorms, I was able to search the north wing, and I have found no signs of foul play as of yet."

Kakashi nodded, "Alright. What does your clique call yourselves?"

Shino coughed and looked down, "Um, team Emo." Naruto snorted and there were a few snickers from Kiba. Of course, all sound ceased when Shino sent them both an icy glare. When all was silent, he continued, "I was unable to locate which of the students was Sabishi."

Kakashi nodded, "Alright, Naruto you're next."

Naruto chuckled nervously and stepped up, "Well, I kinda didn't expect the mission to be so serious, so I didn't really try too hard on my information gathering. I checked the south wing of the dorm but I found nothing," he shrugged, "I didn't really try to join a clique," he tapped his chin, "although, I did end up finding a few people I could hang out with."

Kakashi sighed and rubbed the area between his eyes.

Naruto became indignant, "What? I didn't think we would actually have trouble. I mean, who gets in danger at a high school?"

Kakashi was not amused, "Did you forget that our client has a death threat on his head."

Naruto waved it off, "Yeah yeah, I know. I know. I'm sorry. I'll be sure to pay attention more so than I have been doing." Sakura growled and punched him in the back of the head, causing him to topple forward, "Ow! Sakura-chan!" he whined.

"Baka!" she barked, "This kid's life is on the line here! If we don't find him, we may fail protecting him!"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "But Sakura-chan, I did find him!"

Sakura opened her mouth to reprimand him some more, but she stopped and blinked, "What did you say?"

Naruto nodded, "Sabishi is the one that I hang out with, him and his friend, Anya. While I wasn't too serious in searching, I did make sure that he didn't leave my sight. I henged a clone into a bug and had him hiding on him. When we had different classes, I still knew he was safe. I even volunteered to join him and Anya when they walked home. Luckily, the two of them don't live in a dorm, so we don't have to worry about them being attacked at school when we can't watch them."

Sakura's eye twitched but she relented, "While I don't approve of you not taking the mission seriously, I guess I should commend you for your diligence in protecting the client."

Naruto scratched his head, "What?"

Sakura sighed, "Never mind."

Kakashi looked to Naruto, "What does the client look like?"

Naruto smiled, "Well, Sabishi has brown hair and blue eyes. He wears a blue plaid hoodie over a gray shirt and Blue jeans. Anya has blonde curly hair and wears a red and white dress.

Kakashi eye-smiled again, "Alright, guys. Be sure to pay attention to the people who follow Naruto around. When you find out who the client is, keep an eye on him so that Naruto won't have to work alone."

The Ninja all nodded and disappeared in blurs back to their dorms.

**XxOxX**

The next morning found Naruto sitting at the breakfast table, happily eating his meal while his two new friends happily explained about the goings on at the school. Naruto could only grin as the two seemed to be extremely excited about whatever it was they were saying. He tried to pay attention, really he did. It's just that their…um…enthusiasm was a bit too much for him.

"Hey! Are you even listening?" Anya snapped. Whoops, he must have been slipping out of his mask of paying attention.

Naruto chuckled sheepishly, "Sorry about that. You guys were just kinda overwhelming me with how much you were enjoying yourselves."

Sabishi huffed and crossed his arms, "Naruto-senpai, you should really be paying attention. We were really getting into it."

Naruto's only response was a mischievous grin, but it fell when the big meaty hand fell on his shoulder. He craned his neck back to see Erin staring down at him with a predatory grin and he chuckled nervously, "Hiya, Erin. How's it going?"

Erin's grin twitched, "I still haven't payed you back for ruining my fun yesterday."

Naruto frowned, "You mean you pick on weaklings for fun?"

"Hey!" Sabishi protested with a scowl.

Naruto promptly ignored him and glared up at the bully and the older boy barked out a laugh, "Still too big for your britches?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, but turned back to his breakfast and began munching on some chips. Erin wasn't pleased by this. With a quick movement, he swiped the chips out of Naruto's hands and he held the bag up, "It isn't nice to ignore your betters," he said.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "It's not nice to pick on your inferiors."

"Hey!" Sabishi protested with a glare.

Naruto promptly ignored him and chose instead to look up at the hulking figure with a smile that he did his best to present as fake. Erin glowered, "That's it! I've had enough of your smartass actions! I'll be waiting for you after school behind the dumpster."

A hush fell over the lunchroom as people began to murmur nervously, but Naruto only shrugged, "Okay," he said. He was happily oblivious to the worried glances shot to him by his friends.

The rest of the day went by perfectly well. There were absolutely no incidents as Erin saw the after school meeting as recompense for ignoring them through school. When the time finally came to leave school, Naruto offered to walk the other two home.

"Aren't you going to meet up with Erin?" Anya asked.

Naruto snorted derisively, "Oh please. I didn't say I would meet him back there. He just said he'd be waiting."

Anya sighed and ran a hand through her blonde hair, "Naruto-kun, you do realize that this means he'll probably hunt you down."

Naruto shrugged, "I think I'll be safe enough."

Anya opened her mouth to correct him, but she sighed as if giving up, "Whatever. Let's just go before we get caught."

Naruto smiled at her and she giggled. As they walked, Naruto was completely oblivious at the shadow that followed them.

The next morning, Naruto sat at the table with his friends and they ate quietly. It would have been just another quiet meal, but they were stopped by a timid voice.

"Um…Excuse me, Naruto-san?"

Naruto turned around and brought his milk up to his mouth, "Yes?" he asked.

She was a small girl with short brown hair. She wore a white shirt under blue overalls and she looked utterly terrified, "Um, Erin-sama said that he wanted to speak with you."

Naruto put the glass to his lips and he looked over to where she was gesturing…and immediately did a spit take as he tried not to burst out laughing. Erin was dark read with pure fury coming out in waves. Naruto decided to be a little devious and waved to Erin, wiggling his fingers in a taunting way.

Erin promptly responded with a proper middle finger and Naruto snorted. He turned to the still fidgety girl and smiled, "I'm sorry, I can't talk right now. Could you tell him to catch me later?"

She paled but nodded slowly before scampering away. Seconds later, Naruto had to try not to spit take again when he heard the roar of pure rage that came from the residential bully.

Sabishi looked a little nervous, "Um, Naruto-senpai, are you sure that it's a good idea to be antagonizing Erin? He'll squish you if you're not careful."

Naruto just patted Sabishi on the back and smiled, "Don't worry. I'm sure he'll get over it soon."

Sabishi did not look convinced, but decided to ignore it for now. Naruto smirked as he felt the gust of air behind him and he pretended to ducked down and tie his shoes as something flew over his head and squished into the wall. The cafeteria went silent.

He looked up and frowned at the donut that was now stuck to the wall, "What was that?" he asked the other two.

Sabishi just blinked and stared for a few seconds before he squeaked out, "You're shoe just saved your life."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Did it now?"

Anya nodded vigorously, "Yeah, your social life! If that would have hit, you would have been sent down the ranks for sure!"

Naruto bristled, but otherwise showed no reaction. He only smiled, "I'm sure it's not that bad. Just because someone lost their lunch, I don't see why it should affect me. Now I'm going to sleep."

He then put his head down just as another donut flew over his head and joined the other on the wall. He snickered in his arm where no one could see it.

"Naruto-kun!" Anya yelped, causing said blonde to whip up quickly.

"What did I do?" he said slowly, feigning drowsiness.

Anya sighed and put her hands under her chin, "Never mind."

Naruto also leaned on one hand and sighed, "Are you sure? You look panicked." She snorted and he ignored it. He then leaned a fraction to the left and another donut whizzed past his cheek, barely missing and smashing into the wall.

Naruto turned around to look around the cafeteria and yelled out, "Oi! Be careful! You almost hit me!"

He heard a snort of amusement behind him from his companions and he sighed before turning back towards them. Before another word was spoken, the bell chose that time to ring and the cafeteria was cleared out.

Naruto was obliviously going through his classes, happily unaware of the glares sent at him by Erin and his groupies. Finally, the final bell rang and Naruto met the other two outside before they were stopped by a mob at the front gate. Erin was leading the pack.

"Hiya, Erin!" he chirped happily.

Erin snarled at him and students that were passing by stopped to watch the confrontation. Erin walked up to him with a smirk, punching his fist into his hand, "I've been waiting for this all day."

Naruto smiled with an air of obliviousness, "Did you need something, Erin?"

Erin's smirk turned predatory, "Yeah. I've got something right here for you."

Before Naruto could even respond, Erin took a swing at him. To the onlookers, his arm was moving as a blur and they would be hard-pressed to block this, let alone dodge it. However, Naruto was a trained ninja and he could easily keep up and react in time to not only dodge, but counterattack. Instead, he decided to ignore his instinct to do so and moving at a civilian speed, he dodged and "barely" missed Erin's fist.

Naruto frowned and shook his fist at the bully, "What's the big idea? You could have hit me!"

Naruto heard a snort from some people in the crowd and he recognized it automatically as Kiba. He decided to ignore it in favor of bouncing out of the way when Erin threw another punch. Naruto had to hold in his laughter at the boy's frustration as he looked at him curiously.

"What are you doing?" he asked innocently.

"I'm going to pummel you!" he yelled.

Naruto jumped out of the way again, "But my friends said that you would squish me, not pummel me."

Erin grit his teeth, "I'm going to kill you!"

Naruto sidestepped another punch and 'tsk'ed as if he would a young child, "Now that's not very nice."

Erin's only response was to throw another punch that was dodged just as easily. Finally, Naruto sighed and turned to the others, "So do you guys want to go home?"

The other two nodded slowly and Naruto smiled. He left with a smile on his face as the fuming Erin continued to throw punches that missed. As he and the other two made their way out of the school, they did not notice the shadowy figure that followed behind them.

**XxOxX**

Naruto sat munching on his chips as he did his best to disappear. He was unsure why, but people were sending him looks. The girls were giving him a strange, almost predatory look while the guys were sending him glares and frankly, it confused the hell out of him. He hadn't even met them and already they were looking at him funny. Ever since he had that confrontation with Erin, the eyes all seemed to follow him. Sure, no one tried to fight with him and Erin even seemed to leave him be, but it was really starting to get to him.

Finally after he was sent another look by a girl, he turned to Anya and hissed, "What the hell is up with all the looks? I didn't do anything to these people, so why are the looking at me like that?"

Anya waved him off, "Don't worry about it. They always act like that when someone new shows up. The fact that you avoided Erin just adds to your street cred. Once they realize that you're already in a clique, they'll stop."

Naruto scratched his head, "I'm in a clique?"

Anya nodded, "Yup! Me and Sabishi are your clique."

Naruto scratched his head, "You are? Huh. How about that."

"Oh please, Anya, dear, let's not lay claim to those we do not own."

Naruto's head snapped up at the new voice, completely disregarding the statement to gawk at the girl in front of him. She was a senior he hadn't seen before. She was tall and her curly brown hair fell around her beautiful features. She had on a tank top and skinny jeans, both of which were doing wonder for her figure. She was absolutely gorgeous and it startled him a little, but he quickly composed himself enough to smile.

"Hiya," he said, "I'm Naruto. What's your name?" then he added innocently, "You're very pretty."

When he said that, he suddenly felt a spike of killer intent behind him and he turned to check it out, failing to notice the faint blush on the older girl's face that disappeared as quickly as it came. When he found the source, he was a bit shocked to see that Anya was fuming beside him. He was about to ask what was up, but he was stopped by the girl of his concern.

Anya looked past him and sent a dark glare at the older girl, "What do you want, Kanari?" she hissed, "Can't you see we're busy having lunch?"

Kanari gave a haughty laugh behind her hand, "Oh, please, Anya, dear. I was just coming over to welcome one of the potential new kids. After all, we already have one new kid in our clique. I was just coming to see if Naruto-kun here," here she put her hands on Naruto's shoulders and smiled, "would like to join us for lunch."

Naruto brightened, always happy to make new friends, "Sure! I'd love to," he motioned to his other two friends, "C'mon guys, let's go!"

Kanari gently held him in place, "Hold on," she said, "It was only an invitation for you, Naruto-kun. I didn't mean for you to bring," she looked over to the others then spat out, "followers."

Naruto scratched his head, unaware of the hostility directed at his friends, "Well, then, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to decline your offer. I already promised to eat lunch with them. Maybe we can hang out later, Kanari-chan."

He sent her a winning smile before turning around to sit back down, failing to see when his pink haired teammate came up and led the stunned older girl away.

Anya bristled, "Why did you even talk to her?"

Naruto shrugged, "She seemed nice to me. Why wouldn't I?"

Anya began to sputter indignantly before she stood up in a huff, "I need to go… powder my nose or something." She stormed off.

Naruto frowned at her actions and he looked over at Sabishi, "What was up with that?"

Sabishi shrugged, "Anya and Kanari have been a rivalry since primary school. I hate to admit it, but Kanari always seems to come out on top the majority of the time, so Anya always becomes bitter whenever Kanari shows up. That was just one of the probable soon to come cliques that will try to induct you. Like Anya said, once people realize that you're already in a clique, they'll leave you alone."

Naruto frowned and crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side, "I really don't want to be bothered by that. Is there any way to make it where they all know that I'm no longer available?"

Sabishi shrugged, "I don't know. I suppose you could come with us to the Homecoming game. Cliques are marked by the school events that take place. Once people see us hanging out at the football game, they should see that you're taken."

Naruto shrugged, "Alright. I guess I can do that. What is homecoming?"

Sabishi snickered, "Since it's the beginning of the year, the school is going to throw this huge dance and have a football game to celebrate. First we have to suffer through a spirit week then we get a Homecoming game on Friday and a Homecoming dance on Saturday. I think it actually starts in a few weeks."

Naruto scratched his head. He wasn't so sure he understood. When he went to the academy, the students never got a summer vacation, so there was no need for a homecoming. He only thought of it for a few more seconds, choosing instead to shrug it off and reach for more of his chips. If it was really that big of a deal, he would be corrected if he did it wrong, so it wasn't that different.

**XxOxX**

Naruto was a little confused when he came into the school at the start of the week. At first, the only thing he noticed was the humongous banners and blowup dolls that lined the walls. He also noticed that someone had covered the lights in the lunchroom with colored tissue paper, thereby casting lights over the room with the school colors.

This all was dwarfed when he sat at his table and was met with his two friends dressed in what looked to be two giant fish costumes. He could only stare, mouth agape at the ridiculous sight in front of him and he sighed and calmly said, "I'm not sure I even want to know what's going on."

Anya chuckled sheepishly, "We forgot to tell you about spirit week. You're actually supposed to dress up in the theme of the day. Today just happen to be the theme of our favorite animal, so I got these nifty suits for me and Sabishi, "she paused and struck a ridiculous pose, "What do you think?"

Naruto didn't miss a beat, keeping a straight face, "It seems kinda fishy to me."

Sabishi sighed and tried to hide the slight quirk of his mouth upward, "Kinda cliché."

Naruto shrugged, "Meh, I calls 'em as I sees 'em."

Anya nodded vigorously and grabbed his hand, taking no heed when some of the scales of her suit shook off, "Anyways, we need you to help us out with our outfits. We just need you to dress up from now on. We'll stop by my house at the end of school and plan out our costumes for the week."

Naruto shrugged, "Well, alright then."

He smiled at her before digging into his breakfast with fervent effort. In his haste, he missed the devious twinkle in Anya's eyes that would otherwise make him nervous.

A few hours later found the blonde standing in front of Anya's house. Well, he wouldn't call it a house exactly. With the large field and the pool on the side, and the long stone walkway lined with topiary and the rose bushes that lined the walls. No. This was not a house. It was a mansion. He was dwarfed by the large several story building.

He scratched his cheek, "Are houses all this big over here?"

Anya giggled, "Actually, me and Sabishi got off lucky. Our dads are actually politicians and they get hired for all sorts of things and we get to stay in houses like this," she frowned, "the only problem is that our fathers hate each other and it goes down to us. If either of our dads gets wind of us in the house together, they would kick the offending child out."

Naruto scratched his head, "Your dad's a politician?"

Anya nodded eagerly, "Yup! You are looking at the house of the great Steinman Beck."

Naruto smiled, "You know. That's really cool. If this is a house of a politician, I may change careers. This place is humongous compared to my apartment.

Anya giggled at the star struck expression on her friends face. She took his hand and gently tugged him through the large door. He could only gape as she dragged him through the house and into a large burgundy room. She giggled again before reaching up and pulling down a dry erase board.

Naruto scratched his head and smiled nervously. "What's going on?"

She took out a laser pointer and pointed towards the table listing the plans, "Because you missed today, we need to make plans to make up for it with the most extravagant costumes we can manage. So tomorrow is a day at the beach, and we have to get together a group costume," she pulled out two boxes, "Sabishi and I have already designed our costumes, so we just need to make yours."

She opened the box and in a speed that Naruto knew a few ninja would be jealous of, they changed out of their school uniforms and into their costumes. Naruto gaped. Sabishi was dressed as what looked to be a giant crawfish. Anya was wearing a one piece bathing suit with a skirt and a tiny jacket. He opened his mouth to comment, but he was interrupted when Anya snapped her finger.

"Ah ha!" she said, "I know how you can join us!" she rang a bell and a butler with a serving tray walked in and she whispered in his ear. The man shot a look over at Naruto before nodding to her and walking out of the room. Moments later found Naruto standing in a dressing room, eyebrow twitching as he looked down at the bundle of cloth that the butler had brought.

He sweat-dropped and called out hesitantly, "Um, Anya, are you sure this is all you want me to wear? Is it even allowed at school?"

Anya laughed haughtily on the other side of the door, "C'mon, Naruto-kun. Just step out and I'll check to see if the costume fits.

Naruto let out a long sigh before he quickly changed and walked out. She gave him a short, extremely short, pair of swimming trunks that might have well been speedos for how much it showed. He slowly stepped out and Anya's jaw dropped and her eyes roamed all over his body in a way that made him very uncomfortable.

Naruto stepped behind the door again and looked around at her, "I don't think that this will work. Do you have something that shows a little less…skin?"

Anya smirked, "Aw, is Naruto-kun shy?" when she got no response, she chuckled, "There's no need for you to be self-conscious. You've definitely got the body for it."

Naruto felt his face light up and he ducked behind the door. Fortunately, he moved too soon to see the small trickle of blood that dripped from her nostril. He turned back around to get dressed again, but he froze when he saw the very large lack of clothing on the bench. He frowned and looked around the empty dressing room. He stopped when he heard some giggling and snickering. When he looked at his two friends that originated the laughter, he frowned, "What did you do with my clothes?"

Anya shook her head, "Why, Naruto-kun, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Naruto shot her a deadpan look from around the door, "Yeah, I don't believe that."

Anya giggled harder and Naruto found himself wishing he was able to use his Ninjutsu. A quick Henge would shut her up. He crossed his arms and tilted his head in thought. Unbeknownst to him, Anya had snuck up next to the door and she was eyeing him in a very unladylike manner. He turned around while he was thinking and when he saw her he jumped up and 'eeped' before closing the door in her face.

Anya laughed from the other side of the door, "It was just a joke! I have your real costume out here. I'll leave it by the door."

Naruto rolled his eyes but still looked out and saw the box on the floor. He sighed but smiled. He himself could appreciate a good prank when he saw one…. even if he was the victim. He pulled out the new clothes and smiled.

When he stepped out, Anya and Sabishi applauded, "Now that's what I'm talking about," she said.

He was wearing a black muscle shirt that hugged his frame tightly. He wore orange tropical shorts covered up by an equally tropical towel.

Anya walked up to him and eyed him up and down before looking down at his necklace. It was a green contrast against the black. She scratched her chin and looked at it thoughtfully, "Hmm. I like it. While I didn't plan on you wearing an accessory, I think it adds a little flair."

Naruto beamed at her, "Cool. It's one of my most prized possessions. It was given to me by someone who was very close to me," he held it gently, getting lost in the sparkle of the green gem. That is, until he saw the fingers snap in front of him. He yelped and jumped away before blinking owlishly at the giggling girl.

"Let's just get ready for the next part. Next we have to dress up as our favorite cartoons. Again, Sabishi and I have picked out our costumes and we just need to integrate you into it."

She pulled out some more boxes and the two quickly changed again. This time, they were both dressed up as giant goldfish, but Naruto could only scratch his head. Were those fairy wings? What was up with the crown and wands? And were they wearing colored contact lenses?

It was true. Now instead of their usual eye colors, Sabishi's were a vibrant green and Anya's were…pink? Yes. She was a pink-eyed fish. He could only sigh. "You're not going to make me get topless again, are you?"

Anya shook her head vehemently, "Unfortunately not. These costumes actually come in a set of three. Before you came along, we were just going to try to find some nerd to dress up with us, but lucky you that you get to be the most important part!"

She shoved some clothes in his hand, turned him around and pushed him into the dressing room. This time he wasn't too upset. While there was less orange than he would have liked, he guessed it would suffice. When he stepped out, the other two applauded again. His outfit was simple. It was just blue-jeans and a pink shirt. The only oddity was the silly pink hat that sat snuggly over his brown wig.

Anya squealed and jumped up and down clapping, "Perfect! Let's move on! The next is a pirate theme."

They went through the change again and Naruto was shoved into the dressing room again. He stepped out and he had a typical pirate getup, including the toy parrot on his shoulder and the cutlass on his waist. Sabishi was dressed up in a giant shark costume and Anya was wearing a pink tank top over a tight green long skirt with a slit down the side and a scale pattern. She also wore green shoes. Once she had a look over at them, she clapped and jumped up and down. Perfect!" she looked over at Naruto and smiled, "The final day is school colors." She pulled out a few boxes and she and Sabishi changed again. Sabishi was dressed as a fish in a diving helmet and half of his face was painted with one of the school colors. Anya was wearing what looked to be pajamas, but the shirt and pants were the school colors. When Naruto changed, he was given a set of pajamas that looked just like hers but were meant for boys.

He smirked, "Taking advantage of the spirit day, huh."

She smirked back, "Hey, we are given the opportunity to wear our most comfortable clothes that just have to match the color scheme. How could I not take advantage?"

Naruto snickered but shot a confused look at Sabishi, "What's up, man? Do you get off at dressing up as sea critters or something?"

Sabishi looked down and blushed, "I just like to dress up as a single thing for the spirit week; it's how I've always done it."

Naruto shrugged, "Alright. That seems fair." For some reason, Naruto felt himself in anticipation for the next day. He said goodbye to both of them and turned to head back to his dorm, unaware of the dark figure that followed him.

**XxOxX**

The next day, Naruto was pleased to note that he wasn't the only one dressed up for the spirit day. Kids all over were dressed up as all sorts of beach type things. Hinata and Shino did not dress up, but Naruto did catch glances of the others. Kiba and Akamaru wore matching wetsuits and Naruto had a feeling that his friend might have been getting too much satisfaction at all the girls drooling over him. Sakura was wearing a sundress and a large woven hat. Ino, however, wore a short skirt and a midriff shirt, all colored with Hawaiian flowers.

As he made his way to the lunch table where he could join the others, he couldn't help the shudders that tickled his spine as he felt the many stares directed at him. He wasn't exactly sure why it was, but he could only pretend not to notice. There he met his friends and they happily went to class. After he had separated from Sabishi, Naruto turned and was surprised to see a bright red Hinata looking up at him.

"Oh, hello," he said, keeping up the stranger act, "Did you need something?"

Hinata shook her head, "M-my name's Hinata. I-I just wanted to t-tell you that I like your c-costume."

Naruto shot her a huge grin and she lit up even further, "Thanks. Hinata-chan! I'm Naruto!"

She nodded before scampering away and he could only scratch his head in confusion. He shrugged and walked to his next class. The rest of the week was actually unmentionable. Nothing out of the ordinary really happened, besides the usual compliment on his outfit from someone he didn't know. Soon it was the day of the football game and Naruto got ready to go.

**XxOxX**

Naruto was a bit surprised when he first walked onto the football field that night as he trailed behind his two friends. The school had really gone all out. There were streamers all over the bleachers and glitter lining the walkways. There were even a few people that had painted their faced to correspond with the school icon. Naruto could only sigh as he made his way into the bleachers. When the speaker announced the entrance of the team, Naruto almost fell off his seat when he saw Kiba and Akamaru running out onto the field along with the players. However, he wasn't as surprised when Ino came out with the cheerleaders. He could only whistle and raise an appreciative eyebrow at the cheerleading uniforms. Short skirts and midriff shirts did wonders.

Before he could say anything, Anya smacked him over the head, "Stop gawking! They're not pieces of meat!" She crossed her arms and walked away, grumbling about stupid boys and short skirts. Naruto could only roll his eyes at the girl's antics.

Sabishi smiled beside him and lowered his voice so that only Naruto could hear, "Although, that new blonde girl is really hot. Isn't she one of the new kids? Do you think you could get her to talk to me?"

Naruto snorted, "Just because I'm a new kid at the same time as her, it doesn't mean that I automatically know her."

Sabishi hunched his shoulders, "I guess that also means that you don't know the new football players either. Aw, man! I need better connections."

Naruto opened his mouth to retort with an incredibly clever comment, but he was interrupted when Anya popped up next to them, "Hey guys!" she said, pulling another girl up next to her, "This here's my friend, Ishō. We were just talking and she wanted to know if she could enlist our help tomorrow."

Naruto smiled at Ishō, "What do you need, Ishō-chan?"

Anya answered for her, "Well, Ishō-chan here is the president of the art club and they need help decorating the gym for the school dance tomorrow night."

Naruto shrugged, "Sure! I would be happy to help!"

Ishō smiled, "Great! We'll start really early tomorrow morning since we have no school. That will give you plenty of time to ask someone out for the dance."

Naruto went pale. He didn't know he was going to have to ask someone out. The only experience he had with girls was when he asked Sakura out when they were kids and that had a painful ending to it. How was he supposed to ask someone he didn't even know? Then an idea struck him. He turned to Anya.

"Anya-chan?" he asked her.

She looked up at him with a hopeful glint in her eyes and she said in a strangely sultry voice, "Yes, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto smiled at her so he didn't notice her slowly raising onto her tiptoes so she could get in his face. He scratched the back of his head and chuckled sheepishly, "I know this is kinda last minute, but…" he trailed off and her eyes twinkled.

"Yes…?" Anya nearly squeaked.

"I was wondering if you knew anyone who could go to the dance with me."

She fell on her face, but quickly scrambled a recovery and began dusting off her skirt, "If that's all you wanted, I'm sure there are a few people who would love to join you."

"Really?" Naruto was practically bouncing on his toes, "Who?"

Ishō raised a tentative finger, "Well, we have a new member and I think she may be available if you would like to take her. Maybe you've seen her? She had dark hair and always wears sunglasses? Hyūga Hinata?

Naruto brightened. It would be perfect. Hinata was one of the few girls from his class that didn't pick on him when they were younger. Maybe she could stand him. He opened his mouth to happily agree, but he stopped. Wasn't he supposed to be pretending not to know his friends? Would it be better to go with someone else to avoid suspicion?

He sighed, "No thank you," he said, turning to the girl, "She could probably find someone better."

Right as he said that, he had a distinct feeling that he had said the wrong thing, because now the two girls were staring at him with hearts in their eyes. Ishō looked up at him and smiled, "You're so modest!"

In response, he did the only sensible thing. He made a break for it, "So I guess I'll show up to the gym tomorrow morning. Just be prepared to give me work!"

The girls only giggled and rolled their eyes.

**XxOxX**

The next morning, Anya found her and her two friends in a stuffy gymnasium attempting to create some semblance of romance for the homecoming dance. She and Ishō were currently hanging up black curtains while Naruto and Sabishi were setting up chairs and the others from art club were setting up the snack table. Anya even noticed that Hinata girl working on hanging up balloons.

"So…" she began, looking towards Ishō, "How come you were so dead set on setting up Naruto-kun with Hinata last night?"

Ishō smiled lecherously, "There's romance in the air. I mean, you finally got Sabishi to ask you and I'm going to go after that new boy in P.E. He's got the body of a god," Her smile turned to a devilish smirk, "Besides, that poor girl has it bad for that boy. It's just so sad that she's too shy to say it. I've been doing my best to get the two to interact, but either that boy is incredibly dense or he's blind because Hinata always favors him. When the first of spirit week started, I noticed that he was wearing a sexy outfit and instead of complimenting him myself, I got Hinata-chan to do it. She was blushing so hard and it was so cute! If I have my way, those two will be together before the end of the year."

Anya rolled her eyes at her friend's antics, but still smiled, "Still the matchmaker as always."

Ishō nodded vigorously, "Hinata has some real potential."

Anya rolled her eyes and smirked, "Maybe we can induct her into the boy fan club. We will make a fan girl out of her yet!"

At the time, a certain blonde suddenly felt a shiver down his spine, but he could only frown in confusion as to why it happened.

The two giggled and then quickly finished their work, all the while keeping an eye on their blonde companion and whistling whenever his many muscles clenched when he moved something heavy and relishing when he would stare up at them and blush before moving where they couldn't see him before finding out the other way did it better then go back to moving how he was originally, only to be whistled at again.

Ishō giggled, "You're such a pervert, Anya-chan."

Anya slurped up a little bit of drool, "Proud of it.

**XxOxX**

A few hours until the actual dance started, Naruto was pacing back and forth through the school in a near panic. Sabishi already asked Anya, so he didn't have any other girls he knew well enough. Maybe he should have taken up Ishō on her offer and seen if he could take Hinata to the dance. He was on the verge of breaking down, but he was stopped by a voice.

"Is something wrong, Naruto-kun?"

His head shot up and he was shocked to see Kanari looking at him with a smile. He immediately brightened, "Hello, Kanari-chan!" he said happily. His face fell and he sighed, "I can't find a date for the dance. I've never had to ask someone before," he sighed, "Girls usually find me too annoying to hang out with."

Kanari frowned, "I find that hard to believe."

Naruto shook his head, "Nope. I usually just hang out with people till they get tired of me."

Kanari frowned, "How about this. Would you like to go to the dance with me tonight?"

Naruto blinked confusedly, "Wait…why ask me? I'm sure you've got plenty of people lined up trying to ask you."

Kanari smiled and winked, "Maybe you're just better than all the others."

Naruto looked confused, "What do you mean?"

She just giggled, "Oh this and that. So what do you say?"

Naruto scrunched his brows in thought and Kanari looked expectantly. Finally, he looked up uncertainly and brightened, "Thanks, Kanari-chan!"

She only smiled in response.

**End**

**or**

**Owari**

**A.N. I decided to try a different topic… you know, like broadening my horizons. I was looking for a story that was a mission to high school, but I found none that weren't crap or didn't turn him into a girl. That was why I decided to try. If its crap, gimmie a break, I didn't have good examples. Although I do ask if anyone knows any "mission to high school" fics. I really want to read some. I mean ones that combine his ninja life with a regular high school, not ones that take place in a high school AU.**

**Lol, I originally planned to write a giant oneshot, but the lack of a need to update has made me complacent, so I decided to post this to "encourage" myself to finish. I might be even more encouraged if I get good feedback. If I don't get a good response and it does end up being crap, I will end it quickly. After all, I've already written a few of the last chapters. Don't worry, it gets real exciting so there's more to this story than just teen drama.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Naruto nervously adjusted his black tie again and looked pleadingly at Anya, "Are you sure I look good?"

Anya giggled, "For the hundredth time. You look wonderful, Naruto-kun. Now stop worrying. Your date would have to be a fool to disregard how handsome you look."

Naruto still wasn't sure. When he had first gone up to Sakura to ask her what he was supposed to wear to the dance. He was a bit skeptical when she presented him with the suit and tie he currently wore. He had been displeased by the black pants and jacket, but was soon sated by the dark orange dress shirt that he proudly presented by leaving his jacket unbuttoned. After he asked Anya for help, he had basically fought her off with a stick when she tried to gel his hair down. Eventually his inhumane stamina won out and Anya was left with a messy blonde and shattered dreams.

Sabishi had already been prepped and snazzied up and Anya was all too happy to present him to her blonde companion. Naruto snickered at the boy's defeated expression as his date tried to fuss over him. When she finally finished, she led the two boys out of the room and down her sidewalk to the waiting limo. She waited as Sabishi ran forward and opened her door for her and she rolled her eyes when he mock-bowed before closing her door. When Naruto sat down in the seat across from her, he started fidgeting again.

"Are you sure I look good?" he asked again.

Anya rolled her eyes and giggled, "You look _fine _Naruto-kun. You'll blow your date away. So are you finally going to tell me who you decided to ask?"

Naruto and Sabishi shared a glance before they chuckled nervously, and Naruto looked over at Anya slowly, as if approaching an animal about to pounce, "About that," he said, "I was sort of asked by someone instead of me asking."

Anya frowned, "You didn't take a fan girl, did you?"

Naruto furrowed his brow, "What do you mean? Why would a fan girl ask me out?"

Anya blinked stupidly before she smacked her forehead in exasperation, "Boys," she said rolling her eyes and earning another snicker from Sabishi. He shared amused glances with Naruto as she grumbled inaudibly.

"We're here!" Sabishi chirped.

Anya looked out the window with a smile. Her expression fell as she registered where they were. She turned to Naruto and frowned, "I think I know this place."

The blonde chuckled nervously, "It's actually a funny story…" he trailed off.

Anya's eye twitched, "Then please share. I could use a good laugh."

Naruto opened his mouth, and before she could register, he was standing outside the car and headed towards the house. Luckily for him, she decided to stay in the car as he walked up to the door. He knocked on the door and held the flower thing that Ino had given him.

He stood there for a few seconds before the door wrenched open quite loudly and Naruto had to look up at the large, intimidating figure of a man that seemed to be glaring at him. He couldn't help but fidget under the intensive gaze.

Naruto smiled nervously, "Is Kanari home?"

And just like that, the man's demeanor took a one-eighty and he smiled brightly and stepped back, "You must be Naruto, Kanari has told me a lot about you. C'mon in, she'll be down in just a second."

Naruto blinked slowly before he warily followed the deceptively chipper man into the house. The man was rambling on about something trivial and Naruto could just feel himself falling asleep with the vast amounts of information. He knew from many experiences that that was not the way to go about it, so he sucked it up and pretended to listen. From the sounds of it, Kanari's dad seemed to be pleased by this. Before he knew it, the man had looked down at the flower in his hand and practically snatched it before he cried out in joy.

"Oh! And you brought a corsage! Such a responsible young man! That added to the fact that you were following my description of photosynthesis, you seem bright and smart enough to become a candidate for my little birdie. I can't wait to see my grandchildren!"

If Naruto had been drinking, he would have spit-taken, but taking into account the absence of liquid, he could only choke on his own spit. The crazy old man took his shocked choking in stride and he roughly smacked Naruto on the back.

"There there, Naruto-kun, it's alright! You don't have to be nervous around me!"

Naruto could only sputter in response. He was stopped when he heard an amused giggle. When he looked towards the noise, it was all he could do to keep his jaw off the floor. Kanari was dressed in a long, red, figure hugging dress, and her hair cascaded down her back as a wave of brown curls. Her makeup wasn't overbearing as it was just enough to provide the spice she needed to complete her outfit. In short, she looked good. He smiled up at her and was pleased by the red blush that her makeup wasn't quite able to hide. He mock-bowed and held out his hand. She giggled, and with a dainty hand of her own, she took his and he led her out of the house down to the limo.

The ride to the school was a little less than comfortable as the two girls seemed to be in a competition to see which one could shoot the most scathing glare to the other. Naruto and Sabishi shared another nervous chuckle as they stepped out of the car to wait to escort their dates. Naruto would have loved to hang out with Anya and Sabishi, unfortunately, Anya didn't have the same idea as she stuck up her nose at Kanari and dragged Sabishi away.

Thankfully, Kanari just led him to one of the nearby tables and sat him down. Naruto smiled at her and she sighed contently as she placed her chin on her hands, "Do you know why I sought you out to ask you to the dance?"

Naruto bit his lip, "Was it to get rid of all your fan boys and I was the only one that didn't obsess over you?"

Kanari blinked, completely taken off guard by Naruto's easy dismissal of his value as a date, "No," she began slowly, "believe it or not, but I have actually pined for you from afar for quite some time. In fact, ever since we first spoke I have admired you."

Naruto blinked, "I only said two sentences before you were pulled away. What could you have possibly seen that you liked so much?"

Kanari smiled, giving a faraway look, "It only took that introduction to cement your place."

Naruto scratched his head, "All I did was tell you my name."

Kanari shook her head, "That's not all."

Naruto blinked, "You mean about when I said you were pretty?"

She nodded.

He frowned, "I couldn't possibly have been the only one to have told you that. Surely these people told you the same," he nodded over his shoulder towards the currently occupied dance floor.

She shrugged, "Of course I've been told that before. I mean, look at me!" she dramatically gestured around herself and Naruto rolled his eyes playfully, "But seriously," she continued, "Of everyone to tell me that, you were the only one to mean it without an ulterior motive." Naruto tilted his head to the side in confusion and her smile widened, "It was because you were honestly just complimenting me. Basically, you weren't just trying to butter me up to get into my pants."

Naruto's face crinkled in disgust, "What kind of pervert would sink so low-."

Kanari smiled and cut him off, "I know, and that's why I wanted to ask you," she smiled and took Naruto's hand, "I would like to return the favor and help you to have a great time tonight," she smiled, "It's the least I could do."

Naruto started to wring his hands and he looked everywhere but at her. He was no genius, and it didn't take one to know that he was far out of his depth, "Are you sure that's a good enough reason to make me a good date? What about those with the skills that I lack? What about Erin?"

Kanari scoffed, "Oh please! That jerk couldn't keep a girl even if he wanted to," she smirked, "In fact, when I broke off our relationship, it was already too late for him to find his own date. He's probably going to try to take someone else's date," her smirk turned more teasing, "So, yes, I would say you're a better date than him."

Naruto chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head.

Kanari waved his embarrassment off, "Anyways let's just enjoy ourselves for now." She gently tugged Naruto's wrist and led him to the suspiciously empty dance floor. His suspicions were only increased when the current song was cut off in the middle of the chorus and replaced with a slow song. His eyes narrowed in suspicion and his gaze fell on the girl in front of him. She only responded with an innocent puppy-eyed look. This, of course, only made him more wary.

"I'm on to you," He said half seriously.

She responded with an adorable pout, "Maa maa. I have _no _idea what you're talking about."

Naruto just smiled mischievously, "The jokes on you, cause I don't know how to slow dance."

Kanari returned his smile with one of her own, but this one seemed a bit more feral, "I'd be happy to teach you. After all," she purred and ran her hand down his arm, "I owe you."

Naruto chuckled nervously as she grabbed his hands. He was regretting underestimating his opponent. She put his trembling hand on her shoulder on her shoulder and the other on her waist. She sent him a teasing smile and he realized, to his discomfort, that he was blushing heavily.

Kanari continued her flirtatious movements, but they were interrupted by a cry of grief and Naruto looked over to the other side of the room to see Sabishi running away from Anya. The problem was that Anya was standing in a compromising position with Erin. It wasn't too hard to figure out what happened, especially when Anya reached up and dumped a cup of punch on Erin's head. Naruto apologized to Kanari before he charged off towards his distressed friend.

"Sabishi!" Naruto was frantic as he pushed his way through the crowd in an attempt to get to the distraught boy. It was times like this that he wished that he had his orange jumpsuit. His tux was really restricting his movements. All he could do was rely on his meager tracking skills in an attempt to find the boy. After several empty classrooms, Naruto found the object of his search huddled up in a corner of the science room. Naruto looked down sadly at the small figure and sighed. It was clear to see that the smaller boy was close to tears, but Sabishi was doing his best to hold them in.

Naruto slowly walked over and sat down next to him, "Talk to me, what happened?"

Sabishi sighed, "I finally got the courage to ask Anya to the dance and she ends up ditching me and going with Erin," he sighed sadly and put his head in his hands, "Why do the girls always go for the jocks?"

Naruto frowned, "Is this about the kiss?" Sabishi slowly nodded and Naruto scoffed, "Oh please, that jerk forced himself on her. You ran too quickly to notice, but after they broke apart, she poured a cup of punch on his head.

Sabishi snorted, but looked up at Naruto hopefully, "R-Really?"

Naruto nodded, "I found out from Kanari that he was probably going to try to do something to steal someone else's date. Naturally, I thought of Anya. Unfortunately, I was too late and he pounced."

Sabishi scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Teenagers,"

Naruto smiled softly and chuckled quietly, "Trouble, the lot of them," he agreed.

Sabishi smiled, "Thanks, Naruto."

Naruto opened his mouth to respond, but he was stopped by the white cloth that was placed on it. The last thing he registered was the sweet smell of chemicals before he passed out.

**XxOxX**

Sabishi was floating in a white void. His senses were all absent, "What happened?" he mumbled. He received no answer, but instead, he began to feel a warm feeling originate from his chest before spreading to the rest of his body. Just as it reached his head, he felt a jolt and his eyes shot open.

He was shocked when he tried to move his hands only to feel them constricted by what felt like rope. He wiggled his wrist around to see if he could get out, but it was too tight. He tried to sit up, but he was stopped by a light chuckle and the soft pressure on his chest.

He paled and looked up to see a man in a red and black vest. He was looking down at him with an almost predatory smirk, "Good morning sleeping beauty," he said.

"Wha-,"

"What the hell, Isha!" the man cried, "I wasted most of my drugs to keep him and that blonde kid out for several hours and you decide to wake him up in the first couple minutes!" he crossed his arms and looked away, grumbling under his breath. Sabishi caught him saying, "Damn Iryō-nin," but he had no clue what that meant.

Isha rubbed the area between his eyes, "Senji… shut up."

Senji huffed, but said nothing else.

"Now," Isha began, turning to Sabishi with a smile, "We have a few questions for you," at the boy's worried look, he smiled disarmingly before speaking in a saccharine voice, "Don't worry, Sabishi-kun. We have no intentions of harming you."

"R-really?"

The man's voice became more predatory, "We're just going to bleed your family dry of their wealth."

"Oh..." Sabishi did his best to quell his rising panic, but he knew he had failed when his voice cracked. He slowly looked around the room in search of an exit, but he found none. However, his eyes fell on a familiar blonde lump, "Naruto!" he cried, he turned to the men fearfully, "What did you do to him?"

Senji chuckled, "Don't get so worked up, kid. I just gave him some "help" sleeping."

Sabishi gasped, "You killed him?"

Senji rolled his eyes, "No, but real close."

"You beat him close to death?" he cried out, horrified.

Senji slapped his forehead and answered in a subdued voice, "Does it look like we beat him close to death?"

Sabishi looked over to the surprisingly untouched form of his friend and chuckled sheepishly, "Well, no, now that you mention it… I suppose not. I guess you must have drugged him."

The two were brought back by the chuckle of the other resident in the room. Isha sighed, "As amusing as this is, I think we need to get back on topic."

Sabishi paled, but still brought his eyes up to meet his captor. He tried to put on a brave face, but he probably wasn't doing so well. "O-okay."

Isha pointed at Naruto, "We were unable to get you alone, so we had to bring that blonde brat along. We want to know if he has any use. Is there anyone we can extort for money with him?"

"Well," Sabishi murmured, no longer trying to hide his discomfort, "Naruto told me that he grew up without parents and had been taking care of himself since he was a kid. He's alone, so there's no family to steal from."

Senji just sighed, "So he's useless then. I guess I'll just kill him."

"Wait!" Sabishi practically screamed, "Please don't hurt him! I'll do anything!"

Isha 'hmmed' in thought, "Alright, but you have to do us a small favor."

Sabishi whimpered.

"First you have to be completely cooperative. No matter what, you cannot struggle or show any signs of resistance. If you do, the boy dies."

"Al-alright."

"Then you have to confirm whether or not they have given us all the money you guys have."

"O-okay."

"Finally, you cannot mention anything about us until you leave this building."

Sabishi slowly nodded, slightly thrown off by the third request.

Isha laughed darkly, "Very well! We'll see you in four hours. Then, you can tell your family the ultimatum." The two villains shared a chuckle as they slammed the door behind them.

Sabishi waited a few minutes to make sure they wouldn't enter again before he scooted over and sat next to Naruto. He studied his features and sighed in relief at the older boy's rising and falling chest. He sighed, "I'm sorry I got you into this," he looked down, "I'm sure that since that creepy guy said that he drugged you, you probably don't even know what I'm saying. I guess I'm not a very good friend since I got you involved in this. Hopefully if I cooperate, then they won't hurt you," He closed his eyes in shame. Surely if Naruto was actually awake, he would turn on him for this.

"You're so cool, Sabishi."

Sabishi's head shot up and he stared wide-eyed at Naruto as he slowly moved into a sitting position, "You were awake the whole time? I thought you were drugged!"

Naruto smiled mischievously, "Nope, drugs have a lessened effect on me. I was actually surprised when he said that it was supposed to knock us out for four hours."

Sabishi frowned, "How long have you been awake?"

Naruto chuckled sheepishly, "A while, really. The only reason I didn't already escape was because I didn't know if there was anyone else here, and I couldn't wake you up, so I thought they might have done something only they could undo. Fortunately, I was able to scope out the area and I found a quick way out for when they fixed you," he paused, but then looked at Sabishi with eyes glowing with admiration, "That was so cool when you defended me! I only detected a little fear in your voice as you spoke. If it wasn't for you, I could have died!"

Sabishi smiled, thinking back to the first time that they had met, "Doesn't that sound familiar?"

Naruto chuckled, "It sure does, but the roles seemed to have reversed."

Sabishi's smile brightened, but it fell as he was reminded of the situation, "Now what do we do? We're trapped in an unknown warehouse, in an unknown location, and tied up."

Naruto scoffed, "Oh please, they didn't even tie up my hands."

Sabishi frowned, "What difference does that make?"

Naruto shot him a foxy smile, "Just watch. Now that my skills are actually needed, I can finally let loose."

"What do you-," Sabishi was cut off when the ropes around Naruto fell off of his body. He shot Sabishi a winning smile before he pulled out a strange knife with a diamond-shaped blade. As he walked towards him, Sabishi couldn't help but eye the blade warily. When the ropes fell off, Sabishi chuckled nervously, "Th-thanks." Naruto sent him a bright smile and Sabishi relaxed at the warmth. He paused then shook his head, "Wait…how did you do that?"

Naruto chuckled nervously and scratched his cheek, "Well, the rope was tight, so I used the blade to cut it."

Sabishi shook his head, "No, I mean, how did you manage to sneak in a knife without them seeing it?"

Naruto shrugged, "Meh. Maybe they're just stupid."

Sabishi snorted, trying to use amusement to mask his anxiety.

Naruto smiled reassuringly, as if he read Sabishi's nervousness for what it was, "What's say you that we get out of here?"

Sabishi looked around the large empty warehouse. The doors were probably guarded and the only windows were eight meters up. Unless you can somehow sneak us out, I really don't see us escaping anytime soon."

Naruto chuckled, "Oh, I have a way. You just have to wait a second." With those words, he made a strange hand sign and he was engulfed in a puff of smoke. When it cleared, Naruto was no longer wearing the black tux he had on previously. Now he wore a strange orange and black outfit. He then moved his hands into a cross sign and paused, then added as if an afterthought, "Oh, and try not to scream."

Sabishi raised an eyebrow, "Scream? What do you-," he immediately had to hold back a shout of surprise when there was an explosion of smoke. His panic began to rise when he saw two more identical blondes standing where the smoke cleared. He could only cough and wave the smoke away as best he could, "Um, I think that those drugs may have made me see double."

Then Naruto put his arms out and rested them on his doubles' shoulders, "Nope! They're real, alright!"

Sabishi took a tentative step forward before poking the nearest Naruto and he recoiled in shock when the blonde was actually there.

The one he poked grinned, "Neat trick, huh?"

Sabishi dumbly nodded.

"But wait, it gets better!" the one closes to him made a hand sign and went up into another puff of smoke. When it cleared, Sabishi could only gape as he peered into what appeared to be his own brown eyes. He stepped back and gasped when he saw that the other Naruto had somehow transformed into him. He leaned in close and the other leaned in. He leaned back and the copy did the same. He waved his hands around and the copy did the same again.

He was stopped by a chuckle to the side, "As amusing as that is, I'm afraid that we don't have much time to waste. The sooner we get out, the better."

Sabishi sighed and rubbed the area between his eyes, "Alright, I have a lot of questions for you and I have a feeling that they are going to have to wait, so first, tell me how you expect us to get out of here?" Naruto just pointed to the window that Sabishi had pointed out earlier and gave a large foxy grin, and Sabishi just sighed, "What, are you going to make a ladder of clones?"

Naruto, at least the one he assumed was Naruto, scratched his chin in thought, "That's an interesting idea, but not the easiest thing we could do," he stepped in front of Sabishi and knelt down, "Hop on."

Sabishi looked left then right, and then pointed to himself, "You mean me?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Who else would I mean?"

Sabishi chuckled sheepishly, "Alrighty, but I'm not injured or anything," he paused so that he could focus on holding onto Naruto's shoulders while he got situated, "If anything, you should be worried if that drug did anything to you."

Naruto scoffed and rolled his eyes, "I already told you, I'm fine. Let's go! But first…" he trailed off as he made another hand sign and they were surrounded in smoke. When it cleared, Sabishi was shocked to see that the two of them were in black outfits that were eerily similar to the dark outfits worn in ninja movies.

And without preamble, Naruto took off at an unreasonable speed and headed straight toward the wall. Sabishi could only widen his eyes in surprise as the wall approached them quickly and his blonde companion showed no signs of stopping, "What are you doing!" he began to panic, but Naruto held onto his legs, "What are you trying to gain enough speed to run up the wall? What are you, crazy? This isn't a movie!"

Naruto's only response was a cocky smirk that did nothing to assuage Sabishi's worries. He closed his eyes tightly, anticipating the crash, but he slowly opened his eyes when he felt none. Immediately, his eyes shot open and he was shocked to see the wall going past at a moderate pace and Naruto was sticking to the wall. He blinked.

"Da fook?" was all he could get out, earning a raised eyebrow from the blonde carrying him. It was then that he realized that Naruto had a little more than a bit of explaining to do. Before he could even speak, Naruto had already reached the balcony and he flipped over it and began running along the wall. Sabishi could only stare in awe as the ground rushed by at an incredible speed. The ground so far away only reminded him of their situation and he gripped Naruto's shoulders tighter as if it would make all of his worries cease. Just as he began to think that they would be fine, there was an explosion and Naruto had to jump away to avoid the blast. He back flipped with his passenger in tow and began rushing towards the ground. Sabishi shut his eyes in anticipation for the impact, but to his surprised he was barely jostled as Naruto landed lightly on the ground. Will wonders never cease?

"How the fuck did you do that?" apparently, Sabishi wasn't the only one who wondered that as they were suddenly surrounded by guards. Lucky them to land in some sort of mess hall. The assumed leader, the one who spoke before he approached carefully with his gun aimed at the two, "That fall should have killed you. Who are you supposed to be? Some sort of super hero?"

Naruto smirked and gestured back to Sabishi with his head, "I was hired as this kid's body guard."

Sabishi's jaw dropped for not the first time.

One brave guard stepped forward, "Ha! What good does it do to have a bodyguard when you're outnumbered?"

Sabishi saw Naruto make that familiar cross sign and the area was covered in smoke. When it cleared, Sabishi had to hide his shock when he found himself surrounded by a large group of orange clad blonde teens that far outnumbered the guards and all that his friend had to offer was one and a half words.

"Sic 'em."

As the blondes began the beat down on the obviously inferior guards, the two of them made their way towards the door, but they were stopped when the wall exploded inward and a figure stepped into the room.

Naruto's eyes went wide, "Oh hell no."

**XxOxX**

The dance was finally over and the five teens met at Kakashi's house to discuss the happenings. Kakashi and Yamato were still caught up protecting the main client, so it was just them. Fortunately, one pink haired girl seemed to notice the missing number. Sakura worried her bottom lip as she looked to the others, "Are you guys sure that you haven't seen Naruto? He's been missing since he ran off with Sabishi."

Kiba walked up to her with a wide grin and placed a hand on her shoulder, "What are you worried about? Naruto can take care of himself. I mean, he's probably just off playing around like usual."

Sakura shook her head, "No, Naruto wouldn't do that. After we told him how serious the mission was, he was sure to report in on time. I even saw him sending henged clones all over the school. I don't think he was goofing off."

Kiba scratched his chin, "You don't think that something happened to him, do you?"

Sakura sighed, "I'm hoping against that."

Kiba smiled, "If it makes you feel any better, me and Akamaru will find his scent. Then we can spy on him and you can get your jollies."

Sakura flushed, though from embarrassment or anger is still to be determined, "It's not spying! It's concern for a teammate!"

Kiba shrugged, already used to her outbursts, "Whatever you say, let's just get this over with."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched, but she said no more. She motioned to the other teens and they all made their way outside. The two trackers led the group down the street until they found themselves on a familiar route.

Sakura stopped, "Wait, he's at the school?"

Kiba shrugged, "I still say that he went back to bed."

Sakura wanted to defend her teammate, but she was starting to lose resolve. She finally shook her head and frowned, "Just have Akamaru transform and we'll check out the school. If it ends up that Naruto is really just sleeping, I will take care of it then."

Kiba winced sympathetically, but just shrugged and Akamaru transformed. The two led further and Kiba frowned when the scent led them away from the dorms and towards the classrooms. Sakura was about to rub it in his face, but he stopped when Kiba suddenly went wide eyed and began to sprint towards the building.

Sakura frowned and kept up with him, "What happened?" she asked.

Kiba shook his head, "Naruto's scent isn't the only one there. There's also Sabishi's and…" he trailed off.

"And?" she prompted.

"…And the smell of chloroform."

Sakura frowned, "Damn. Can you find out what happened to him?"

They rushed into the science room and Kiba and Akamaru began sniffing around frantically, but he was stopped by a calm voice.

"You know," Shino said, "I still have my female Kikaichū on Sabishi-san and Naruto-san. I will be able to track where he is as long as no one has removed them."

Sakura nodded, "Alright, This needs to be done quickly and quietly. In, out, and back to base."

The others nodded in conformation. Sakura turned to follow Shino, but she was stopped when she saw a figure staring at them from the doorway. She inwardly cursed.

**XxOxX**

Anya was pissed. That jerk Erin had completely ruined her night. Not only had Sabishi seen them when Erin decided to force himself on her, but the scene had caused him to run away in a fit. At least she could take solace in the fact that she had dumped punch on that idiot's head.

However, no matter how vindicated she may feel, the fact of the matter was, she still had no date, and she spent the last twenty minutes searching for her idiot best friend. Just as she was about to breathe a resigned sigh and make her way home, she was stopped when she saw a familiar band of weirdos. 'New guys don't automatically know each other' my eye. However, the twin weirdos were crouched in front of the others like some sort of freaky bloodhounds. She was about to approach them, but she stopped when the two suddenly shot up and Kiba exclaimed something about scents of Naruto and Sabishi and chloroform.

She gasped, as that could only mean that the two had been attacked. Being the child of a politician had to count for something, and Naruto was just unlucky enough to be in the way. She moved quietly, following as they made their way towards the science classroom and when the Emo one said something about a way to track them down, there was no way that she was able to keep quiet anymore. She stepped out just as the pink haired one turned to her.

"What's going on?" she asked in the most authoritative voice she could muster.

The pink one cringed, but she sighed resignedly, "We were hired to watch over Sabishi because his father had received a letter threatening his family."

Anya blinked, "Um…okay… So where is he?"

She looked a little sheepish, "We kinda lost him."

Anya's eye twitched, "What kinda body guards are you?"

She gained a tick mark and brandished a gloved fist to shake it at Anya, "Watch it, girl! We are trained ninja and we could kill you easily."

Anya scoffed, "Ninja? Please, like I'm going to buy that."

"Hold it!" the Emo said, "I found something." He picked up a piece of ripped paper and he stared intently before he reached in his pocket and pulled out another piece of paper and he put the two torn pieces together, "Look at this," he began, "I decided to put the piece together with the one we found in the dorms and now it says 'Stein man Beck,' do you see any relevance?"

Anya perked up and walked over, "Hey! How come you guys tore up one of my dad's campaign poster?"

The pink haired girl blinked again, "What do you mean? Your dad's the one who hired people to hunt down Sabishi?"

Anya blinked, "Say what?"

The Emo nodded, "That's good, maybe she could help us find him quicker."

Anya blinked again, "What?"

Emo turned to Anya, "We are under the idea that your father may have put out a hit on Sabishi as an attempt to scare his father out of the political running."

Anya sighed, "Well, alright then. How can I help?"

He frowned, "That's it? You aren't going to attempt to defend your father?"

Anya shrugged, "I already know that he doesn't allow Sabishi in our house. Because of the rivalry, I figured it would be a matter of time before it got too extreme for comfort."

The pink haired girl sighed and rubbed the area between her eyes, "Alright fine. Let's just get this over with."

Anya 'eeped' as Kiba scooped her up and the group of them took off following Akamaru at an inhuman speed. Anya sighed resignedly. Maybe she could believe they were ninjas.

**XxOxX**

They arrived at a large dock in time to hear a ruckus from inside one of the warehouses. Kiba put Anya down and she surveyed the scene. Explosions erupted from a small area of the base and she would have been worried if it weren't for the shout of 'Dattebayo!' that echoed across the docks. Apparently, Naruto wasn't excluded from the super powered new kids.

Alright," Sakura began, "how's the situation in there, Hinata?"

The white-eyed girl made a hand sign and the veins around her eyes bulged... it was kinda creepy, "Naruto-kun's doing his best to fight off a never ending wave of soldiers.

Anya blinked stupidly, "I'm not sure I'll even be able to follow your guy's gibberish anymore."

"Charge!" Anya whipped her head to the side to see Kiba rushing towards the warehouse in an infuriatingly reckless manner. Without any warning, suddenly, the twins turned into two giant cyclones that smashed into the wall.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed two figures dressed in a black ninja getup. The one that was carrying the other spoke up, "Oh hell no."

**XxOxX**

"Shannaro!"

Anya and Sabishi watched in horror as another no name thug was sent flying by the deceptively dainty girl. One punch… one effin punch! Anya was suddenly very glad that she had never gotten on the bad side of this girl.

Just as the thought came to her, the aforementioned pink monster barked over to the blonde one, "Naruto! Go get Anya and Sabishi and take them to safety!"

"But Sakura-chan…" he whined pitifully.

"Um, Naruto… I don't think you should be disagreeing with the girl with super strength," Anya hissed.

Naruto chuckled, "She's not so bad when you get to know her."

"Naruto, "Sakura growled menacingly.

Naruto quickly picked them up, "Just like I know her well enough that she won't be too happy if I don't leave now."

And with that, the three disappeared in a swirl of smoke and Anya found that they were now in front of the building. Before Anya could release a breath of relief, she was jolted away and Naruto jumped up and barely dodged a blur that smashed where they once were.

In the place they once were stood an intimidating figure.

"That's Isha," Sabishi whispered to Anya, "He and another man, Senji were the masterminds behind me being kidnapped.

"Nice Dodge," Isha taunted, "Although I guess it would be too easy if you lost just because of that."

The two Narutos stood tall and let the two civilians down from their shoulders, "I am Chūnin Uzumaki Naruto of Konohagakure no sato. I have been charged with protection of these two and if you continue, I will be forced to attack. Please heed," on the outside, Naruto was stoic and straight-faced, but on the inside, he was jumping around cause he looked so cool.

That is, until Isha merely chuckled, "A Konoha gaki, huh? You're a bit far from home, aren't you?" he lowered himself into a fighting stance and sent Naruto a wicked grin, "Well, Naruto-kun, I look forward to destroying you, as I am under orders to retrieve Sabishi-kun in any way necessary."

Naruto frowned and he had his clone hide the other two as he dropped into a fighting stance of his own. Why couldn't anyone ever just leave when he asked? Oh well. He just had to jump this hurtle so that he could get the two home. With that, the two kicked off and launched towards one another.

**XxOxX**

Sakura sighed as she sent another grunt flying and she turned to see the others finishing up with their own battles and she sent them all a winning smile and she turned back to the front in time to register and jump away as a hail of metal hit the ground where she once was.

Sakura squared her shoulders and faced the new opponent and she recited the warning, "I am Chūnin Haruno Sakura of Konohagakure no sato. I along with my squad have been charged with protection of Sabishi-kun and if you continue, we will be forced to attack. Please heed."

Sakura could see the enemy's inner conflict as he seemed to be debating with himself. Finally, he sighed, "Well, damn, I guess I can't win against all of you if you're all Chūnin, so I guess I'll concede. No point in partaking in a losing battle, after all," with that, he lept off.

Fortunately, Sakura realized that he was running towards Sabishi so she signaled to the others and followed behind him. She watched him as he landed on a roof that over looked the three unsuspecting kids and he aimed a blow dart at Sabishi. Before he could even inhale, he suddenly found the air leaving his lungs as he found a black gloved fist implanted into his stomach and the last thing he registered was the flash of pink before he was sent flying.

Sakura dusted her hands off and she turned to the three below and scowled since Naruto was so easily taken off guard. That is until the Sabishi below exploded into a cloud of smoke. And Naruto waved up to them. She sighed and jumped down.

"Hi Sakura-chan! Thanks for taking care of that sniper. Now I assume that you and the others have finished off the other grunts too, so we just need to meet up with boss and we'll be home free."

Sakura nodded, "Alright, lead the way."

The clone nodded and took off with the others following. In the end off the trail, they stopped at the top of a crater and a mangled body was at the base. Naruto was slowly making his way up the side and he looked completely unruffled.

"Mission accomplished, Sakura-chan!" he gave a foxy smile and a thumbs up.

**XxOxX **

Hours later found the ninjas, the client, and the two kids standing in a driveway as Anya's father was driven off in a police car. She looked surprisingly unbothered because Sabishi's father had heard about how she had helped to rescue his son and was happy to provide her with boarding until she left for college.

Sabishi turned to the hyperactive blonde with a sad smile, "So I guess this is goodbye? It was nice to meet you and thanks for protecting me. Have a safe trip home."

Naruto opened his mouth to respond, but he was interrupted by Anya, "And thank you for standing Kanari up like that. It's about time that that tramp gets it like that. I can't wait to rub it in her face," she went off on her own little rant, causing the two boys to sweat drop.

Naruto shook his head to clear the distraction and he turned to Sabishi before saying under his breath, "I expect you to give Kanari the letter of apology and please ask her to keep quiet as not to embarrass Anya.

Sabishi sighed and smiled, "Alright. Thanks again and take care."

Naruto nodded and shook Sabishi's hand before he smiled and jumped off. Followed by the others.

**Owari**

**Mandatory Author's note: there you have it. All done. As I tried to stress, this was supposed to be a one-shot, but it didn't work out. I finally finished it, so please enjoy. It ended up being shorter than I originally planned, but that's okay. I decided to post today as an early birthday present to me.**

**Now there's only one thing left to say:**

**Please don't review. Just favorite...**

**Oh! And tell your friends. I could use some more readers.**


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